The Blue Island
Geography The Blue Island is Dominated by the Sandcrest mountains. The majority of settlements are found on the shoreline, in the shadows of the mountains. The only creatures hardy enough to inhabit the Sandcrest range are the dwarves, who have an enclave that dives deep into the peak. The Sandcrest Mountains The Sandcrest Mountains are large, craggy, snow capped peaks that overshadow the rest of the island. They are mostly uninhabitable, save for the few mountain lakes. Legend has it that these lakes are more of a curse for lost travelers than a gift. Often, they contain strange beasts, long removed from the cycle of evolution in the rest of the world. Specifically, tribes of feral people supposedly merged with the strange fauna to become "Shifters," cursed half-beasts. The Shoreline The Shorline of the Blue Island is famously gorgeous. The picturesque forests and glades of the island slowly descend into tropical beaches with crystal blue water. The shorline is heavily inhabited by the locals, and most travel is done by the sea rather than through the mountains. The beaches tend to be the most explored parts of the island, with maps getting more and more clouded as they reach further inland. Locations Sequena Sequena is the provincial capital of the Blue Island. It is an Oriental styled city that creeps from the poor shorelines to the rich hilltop communities. The people of Sequena have self-divided into two different locations. The royal family and guild leaders have laid claim to the old mansions of the previous elites, and reside exclusively in the top districts. However, the other inhabitants have made their way to the lowest districts, aiming to be closer to the harvest-able resources. As the rich purchase a majority of the goods, the poor must make their way through the abandoned city to get to the market square. Therefore, maps of the known city tend to look like two decrepit, interlocked spiderwebs. It is important to note that Sequena is the most populated city in the world. The lower districts of the city look like a mini-metropolis Namudex The dwarvish citadel of Namuduex is the closest thing these peaks have to a civilization. Namuduex used to be a massive, inter-mountain fortress. Its passages and forges plunged deep into the mountains. Today, the only inhabitants for these walls are the 900 or so dwarves who cluster in the citadel center, outside the old caverns. The creatures of the deep underground have had 200 years to reclaim the mountain halls, and legend has it that the dwarves dug deep enough to reach where the Blue Dragon's power now resides. Other Locations Manazuelos The existence of Manazuelos is considered a blight on the land by the imperials. Manazuelos is a massive village of lizardmen that has been burgeoning in recent years. They have established relationships with smugglers, and they have formed an army. They are territorial of the surrounding jungle, but not aggressive towards larger forces. Partillobes Partillobes is a village nested in the center of a savanna that is overshadowed by the mountains. It is fairly tribal, but is known for exporting food imbued with healing power. It is rumored to be a center of natural power, occasionally drawing Shifters out of the mountain. It is also the location of the blue rose grove. The only known growing place of these rare flowers. Mocegoverve If society was formed to where it is in real life, Mocegoverve would be rich from tourism. It is perched on a hill that overlooks a beautiful beach. The ocean here is imbued with arcane magic, meaning the ships that sail from here often encounter strange complications. Supposedly, this village was established pre-Turoon as a scientific outpost to explore the nature of this sea magic. This theory comes from the abandoned observatory that sits in the now overgrown, jungly mountainside. This observatory is rumored to contain the products of failed arcane-scientific experiments. The Guild System The government of the Blue Island is done through the three holy guilds and the King that controls them. Their coexistence is peaceful, but Machiavellian. The guilds are constantly working together and against each other in secret. Their one limit is death, it was decided early in the career of the first King Dadec that the guilds must all be bound to never take each others' members' lives. The punishment lay out for this crime was the complete purging of guild leadership. In order to own property in the Blue Island, one must join one of the guilds. Anyone can join a guild if they can find a high ranking member of a guild to anoint them. Often, these annointees are forced to pay hundreds of gold for this right. Guild members of any rank can theoretically ascend to become a guild leader, but most of the guilds are ruled by nepotistic oligarchs. The King Responsibilities The King has numerous responsibilities. The first is to be the judge, jury and executioner in any case brought to them by guild leaders. He or she is given the final say on any disagreement between guilds, and the guilds always respect the King's decision. The second is the protection of the island. The King controls both the army and navy, and he or she is responsible for the military structure of the island. The guilds are not permitted to have standing armies, but they may use mercenaries with the King's permission. The third is the clergy. The King is in charge of what is declared heretical, what the church should teach, and the entire financial management of the church itself. In general, the church is only present in the upper districts of the capital. They exist mainly as the King's tool to denounce certain practices without his/her own stamp of approval. The fourth is the people. The King is obligated to keep the people happy and well fed. A King who cannot serve his/her people violates the tenets of the church, and must be deposed. However, the church has yet to be forced to depose a King, and no one knows what would happen in that case. The fifth is taxes. The King imposes high taxes on all transactions between guilds to keep his organizations funded. The guilds have yet to resist the taxation, but history is young here. The Royal Line The King has always been a dragonborn, descended from the first known dragonborn in all the isles. Supposedly, Turoon picked this dragonborn, King Dadec, for his loyalty and love for the arts. He/she is always a blue dragonborn. The family is known to keep their draconic power despite marrying out of the family. The royal family does not have a last name, they are known simply as "the royal family," "the blue family," or "The Blues." Sometimes, Kings will pick their own last name when they come to power. The current King is Lucia Benevere, she is the firstborn of King Dadec. She is known for being both intelligent and a powerful warrior. She is often depicted as a dragon wielding a battleaxe in one hand and a quill in the other. In battle, she is known to channel psychic abilities to empower her weapons, and control the minds of her opponents. The Guilds The guilds are responsible for upholding the tenets of the Blue Rose given to them by the church and the King. They spread their influence through monetary transactions overseas and establishing cultural dominance in various neighborhoods. The Rose Artists The Rose Artists are considered to be the most petty of the guilds. They are artists responsible for upholding the tenets of physical beauty. They consist of painters, makeup artists, and sculptors who are all vying to make the most money possible off of their creations. Their members tend to be as vein as they are intelligent and creative. These artists are fighting constantly to discover what style will become the most popular in the isles. They are quick to stamp their name on anything that looks like it could sell well. The Rose Artists do most of their deals outside of the Blue Isles, exporting their work far and wide. As the flame of competition blows hot, there have been numerous, quickly forgotten movements of art in the guild. The leader of the Rose Artists is a human known as Suleiman of Many Faces. He is known for his divine ability to change his appearance, he has, on multiple occasions, used this ability to steal ideas and information from his rivals. He is also incredibly petty and paranoid; any statement against him, whether accidental or intentional, is considered betrayal to him. Noveron's Rememberers Noveron's Rememberers are the second newest of the guilds. Unlike the Craftsmen, they incorporated diplomatically shortly after the establishment of the Empire. They are the dwarf scholars and archivists based out of the old citadel Namudex. Almost every dwarf in the island is a Rememberer, but not every Rememberer is a dwarf. After they merged with the guild system, they took on the responsibility of writing and charting history. Since then, their tenets have extended into all written word. The highest ranking members of this guild are still historians, but they now incorporate poets, story tellers, and clerics. Their compiled knowledge is scribed and stored in the old, grand library of Namudex. This building fell into ruin following Turoon, and it is currently being renovated as necessary. The leader of the Remembers is Noveron Baldface, he is a dwarf born shortly after Turoon's rebellion. He was selected at birth to lead this guild, and had a regent for his first years as the guild leader. He is also the dynastic king of the dwarves in Namudex. He is cunning and wildly intelligent. He is a heavy participant in island politics, and knows how to sway a merchant or two his way. Craftsmen of the King The Craftsmen of the King have a storied and young history in the guild system. They used to be a guerrilla rebel group working out of Partillobes and the uninhabited sectors of Sequena. Needless to say, they are the youngest of the three guilds. After they were defeated in the battle of Partillobes, and slew King Dadec in the process, they were incorporated into the Empire as one of the guilds. In the modern era, they are the hard-working, brow-sweat craftsmen of the Island. Membership in this guild can represent both poverty or success. The bottom members of this guild are homeless and poor, getting by on the chopping of wood, or harvesting of wheat. The top members of the Craftsmen are famous smiths, master architects, and rich shipbuilders. The leader of the Craftsmen of the King is Witten "Who Smiths for Giants," he is widely regarded as the greatest weapon-smith in all the isles. It is said he has the power to imbue magic straight from the divine powers into a weapon. However, his methods are as unknown as he is, and he has not been seen for a decade. He is known to have retreated into hermitage before, so his followers and higher-ups treat this disappearance as a normal occurrence. While he is away, his much more dangerous seconds in command have taken over management of the guild. Religion and the Clergy The religious of the Blue Island worship a god known as Catrix, the Blue Rose. The church of Catrix calls themselves the Blue Rose Society, and their god is represented as so. The tenets of Catrix involve art, creation of something greater, and mumbles of intrigue. It is said that the Blue Dragon was responsible for bringing craftsmanship into the world, and their energy gives the people of the Blue Island creativity beyond a foreigners imagination. The clerics of Catrix tend to be bardic in nature, drawing their power from the music Catrix commanded them to create. They wield instruments as holy symbols, and imbue healing with folk songs. The clerics see that the guilds fulfill most of the purpose Catrix gave the island, so they take it upon themselves to finish his requests by producing songs. These songs vary heavily in genre, and are moreso personal tunes than religious hymns. In the societal hierarchy, the clergy are seen as blessed outcasts. They do not produce anything to be traded, so they are dead weights in markets. However, to slight or disrespect a cleric is known to be bad luck. Catrix curses those who disrespect his followers, but he rewards those who care for them. It is well known that having a cleric of Catrix stay at your house brings about blessings for your entire family. This strange dynamic means that these clerics often live from town to town, spending their time on the road writing music, always treated well by the people. There are few clerics for a multitude of reasons. The main issue with being a cleric is that you make no money, so leaving your family to become a cleric is akin to abandoning them. In addition, the Blue Rose Society only accepts the best musicians into their ranks. Society Society in the Blue Island is radically different based on location, race, and guild. Sequena Life in Sequena is simply a rat race of creativity. Those who hope to succeed in this ultra-capitalistic art economy have to constantly be producing quality art. However, the level of competition keeps both the quantity and quality of goods high for buyers. Needless to say, there is constant tension between the guilds as they push and pull with the tradewinds. In poorer areas, the guilds tend to associate only with themselves. Often, a bar will be termed a "craftsmen" bar and only take customers of one guild. At its worst, this issue has escalated into violence. Namudex Going from Sequena to Namudex would be a massive culture shock. The dwarves of Namudex live the lives of scholars in a commune. Information is given out like candy, and currency is only kept for foreigners. Food, water, and amenities are provided by the guild themselves. In exchange, the citizens of the town work tirelessly to catalog the history of the islands. Namudex is notably opposed to the magical experimentation and rules of the Silver Island, preferring open discovery despite the risk. Everywhere Else In the rest of the island, the people live pastoral, communal lives. Structures are utilitarian, and people are poor. Food is the most important resource in the country, and adventurers are second. There is a constant tide of monsters being pushed back by (sometimes literally) a farmer's son with a sword.